Today our consumers demand more - your employees demand more. The way that consumers use technology has evolved for good, so it’s inevitable that the way your employees access their reward and benefits platforms has changed too. This article looks at two tech trends for HR that should be top of your consideration list when choosing new software providers.

“The biggest challenge that HR software buyers face is that people won’t use their systems.”

Well-run employee benefits that people use are a huge driver of organisational value because they cost you less to provide than the value they represent to the employee.

But unlike other enterprise systems your staff have to use at work, like corporate mail or procurement programs, employees aren’t obliged to use your reward and benefits hub.

And that’s the key thing causing lack of engagement in employee benefits products and services.

So how do we get people to want to use things? We make them beautiful, simple to use and intuitive, not just on their computers, but on the plethora of devices that now dominate the home technology space.

In terms of engaging with your people, the 2 most important technology trends for HR at the moment, as well as in 2015, should be user experience, and accessibility on mobile.

1. User Experience.

You might think User Experience is a complex science, a dark art mastered only by eccentric designers with decades of experience. But in it’s basic form, it’s the simplest thing in the world to understand. It’s about how a piece of software, a website or an app makes you feel.

We believe that in order to truly engage your workforce, you need your workforce to be ‘wowed’ every time they connect with your benefits. Your employee; your customer; wants to feel inspired by fresh and exciting content and benefits that are tailored to them.

Josh Bersin, of Deloitte recognises that “New user interfaces are a top driver for [software] replacement” so it’s important to partner with those that stay ahead of the curve in terms of the user experience your benefits package creates for employees.

A couple of examples:

Just Eat, the huge disruptor in the UK takeaway industry now takes 57% of orders from mobile devices (statistic from October 2014) - which is interesting for a product that you need to be in the house for to get it delivered.

People are choosing their phone over their desktop because phones are nicer to have on the sofa, and PCs are associated with work.

It took 13 years for Barclays to get 2 million users to adopt internet banking, but only 2 months to get the same number of users to adopt mobile banking. 19 million people now bank on tablets, and the average bank branch across Europe gets just 14 customers per day.

It’s not just about mobility, it’s about choice. It’s about when and where.

Your employees are no longer limited to using the internet in a set hour of leisure time, at lunch or after work. The reason mobile is so important isn’t necessarily because people don’t have a computer. It’s because the opportunity you have to connect with employees is now a different time; their downtime. It’s when they’re walking down the street, on the train or at the bus stop. People’s leisure time is so important to them they don’t want to waste it. And now, because technology has enabled them to, they want to access their benefits on the go.

In a world where the customer is empowered to make choices and critique, a world where your reputation can be made or broken by a simple tweet, it’s never been more important to keep up with technology. Unless HR listens and adapts to technological trends, your employees won’t engage with your benefits offering in 2015 and beyond.